Abstract
The vacuum energy density now is small or zero but must have been prodigious if the universe was once hotter than ${T}_{c}\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{15}$ K and if elementary-particle symmetry is spontaneously broken by a Higgs mechanism. If symmetry is broken nondynamically, in the hot disordered phase the huge vacuum energy density is nevertheless negligible, compared to the energy density of ultrarelativistic particles. Because the broken symmetry is non-Abelian, the long-range forces arising on symmetry restoration need not lead back to an anisotropic, inhomogeneous, or domain-structure universe.
Keywords
PhysicsVacuum energySymmetry (geometry)Cosmological constantSymmetry breakingHiggs bosonPhase transitionUniverseSpontaneous symmetry breakingFalse vacuumDiscrete symmetryCondensed matter physicsTheoretical physicsQuantum mechanicsGeometryHomogeneous space
Affiliated Institutions
Related Publications
Cosmological Lower Bound on the Higgs-Boson Mass
Cosmological considerations imply that the Weinberg-Salam Higgs boson mass ${m}_{\mathrm{H}}\ensuremath{\gtrsim}9$ GeV. If this bound were violated, the symmetry-breaking phase ...
Cosmology for Grand Unified Theories with Radiatively Induced Symmetry Breaking
The treatment of first-order phase transitions for standard grand unified theories is shown to break down for models with radiatively induced spontaneous symmetry breaking. It i...
Symmetry Breaking in Non-Abelian Gauge Theories
According to the Goldstone theorem, any manifestly covariant broken-symmetry theory must exhibit massless particles. However, it is known from previous work that such particles ...
Spontaneous creation of almost scale-free density perturbations in an inflationary universe
The creation and evolution of energy-density perturbations are analyzed for the "new inflationary universe" scenario proposed by Linde, and Albrecht and Steinhardt. According to...
Novel Type of Phase Transition in a System of Self-Driven Particles
A simple model with a novel type of dynamics is introduced in order to investigate the emergence of self-ordered motion in systems of particles with biologically motivated inter...
Publication Info
- Year
- 1977
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 255-257
- Citations
- 102
- Access
- Closed
External Links
Social Impact
Altmetric
PlumX Metrics
Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions
Citation Metrics
102
OpenAlex
Cite This
S. A. Bludman,
M. Ruderman
(1977).
Induced Cosmological Constant Expected above the Phase Transition Restoring the Broken Symmetry.
Physical Review Letters
, 38
(5)
, 255-257.
https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.38.255
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1103/physrevlett.38.255